Chapter 2 Summary

"The Song of the Ocean"

Tully explains more about his childhood, including the significance of a Hallicrafter S-40B shortwave radio. The radio was his father's prized possession and he teaches Tully how to tune the radio to pick up the BBC and Polynesian stations in Hawaii. When Tully learns that some people have picked up radio frequencies through fillings in their teeth, he wants to be one of those people. His father is killed in an avalanche, which Tully hears about via the radio.

Unable to get sufficient answers from his mother or other adults, Tully tries to reach his father on the radio. He hitchhikes to the Strategic Air Command radio tower - the tallest tower in Wyoming - to contact his father. Realizing that Tully doesn't mean any harm, the military sends him home.